CE00578-7 Sustainable Design and Manufacture

This module addresses the global concerns related to the environmental impact resulting from the manufacture, use and disposal of manufactured products. Through design and manufacture, engineers are responsible for the use of energy, materials, and processes for the complete product life cycle. The latest environmental legislation will be studied along with the strategies adopted by industry in order to comply with this legislation. A Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) will be carried out on a real product and tools such as Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) and CES Materials EcoSelector will be used to reduce the ecological footprint of the product.

Design and Manufacture - current practice
To put the environmental issues to be discussed into perspective some of the key design & manufacture strategies commonly in use will be discussed.

Environmental impact of manufacturing
The module will be introduced through a thorough analysis of the impact that current manufacturing practice is having on the global environment referring to reports such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

Environmental legislation
Students will study the latest legislation which controls and limits the manufacturing carried out today and look at how future developments in manufacturing will be influenced. A wide selection of legislation will be studied from the Carbon Tax to End of Life Vehicles Directive.

Sustainability principles for product design and manufacture
This will include Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to understand the material, energy and toxicity impacts of an existing product and the use of Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) strategies to reduce environmental impact of product.

Material Selection for sustainability
The selection of appropriate materials is an important factor in the design and manufacture of a successful product. This complex task is made more challenging when environmental issues are also considered. CES Materials EcoSelector will be used by students to make informed choices of materials.